Game device



May 30, 1939.

W. E. ANDREWS GAME DEVICE Filed Dec. 16, 1937 Ill/827152": /z'zzariiE-lzziraas Patented May 30, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to game devices, and more particularly to those inwhich a token or disk is projected or dropped with the zone or placewhere it falls as speculative, and my main object is to provide a deviceof this kind which provides fascinating entertainment.

A further object of the invention is to provide means which challengethe skill or luck of the player to attain a given goal.

Another object of the invention is to provide a field containing amiscellaneous array of values, and have the token or disk droppedthrough any chosen one of an array of passages at an elevation above thesaid field, the token falling according to the position and direction inwhich it is deposited in the chosen passage.

An additional object of the invention is to construct the field adaptedto receive the token or disk in a series of units which are closelygrouped, but tiltable to cause the token or disk to slide off into acompartment below.

An important object of the invention is to design the novel game devicealong lines of simplicity and efliciency.

With the above objects in view and with any others that may suggestthemselves from the description to follow, a better understanding of theinvention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the game device;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Games in which coins, tokens or other projectiles are tossed, dropped ordeposited with a particular goal to be attained as governed by skill orchance have been devised from time to time, but in most instances theprojectile was freely thrown, and the apparatus was not of a portable orunitary character. I have therefore devised an apparatus which containsall the values of the game in one compact unit which may be placedanywhere and is constituted along definite lines.

In accordance with the foregoing, the game device is essentially in theform of a cabinet 5, which may be square, as shown, or of any othersuitable configuration. The sides of the cabinet are preferably madewith glass panels 6 to afford a clear view to the interior. The top ofthe cabinet is. a thick wooden board I cut with a plurality of narrowslots la. While these may be arranged in any order, I prefer that theybe in four units, the slots in each unit being at right angles indirection to those in the adjoining unit.

Ihe cabinet 5 has a bottom 8 above which is a false bottom or platformcomposed of a series of strips 9 arranged in close succession. Thestrips 9 are, for the purpose of the game, considered as one generalfield or group, divided off into a large number of individual units ofsquare form. As shown in Fig. 2, these units are marked with numbersfrom 1 to 10, the numbers being in mixed or arbitrary relation; or, thesquares may be marked with any other legend or characteristic which willsuit one game or another.

Toplay the game, a token or disk, preferably of metal, is freely droppedthrough a chosen one of the slots M at such a point as is calculated bythe player to cause the projectile to fall upon a chosen figure in thefield below, the walls of the slots la being cut straight down so as topreclude any maneuver on the part of the player to train the token at anangle to attain the desired goal. The skill of the player thereforeconsists in first choosing the right slot, and second in determining theposition in such slot most nearly in line with the goal. Necessarily, aspeculative element enters into the travel of the token through thecircumstance that the chosen slot is of much greater length than thediameter of the token and also that the token may swerve from a directfall by turning in one or another direction during the fall.

In order that the field of figures may be cleared of one or more tokensat any time it is considered or expedient, the strips 9 are pivotedendwise in the cabinet by means of spindles 9a, so as to be tiltable, asindicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 4, and so cause the projectiles toslide off onto the cabinet bottom 8. In order that the strips may tiltin unison, their spindles are formed with downward stems It! which arelinked with their lower ends to a horizontal rod II. The latter extendsthrough the side of the cabinet to terminate with a handle Ha, and whenthe latter is drawn outwardly the strips 9 are tilted as previouslydescribed. However, the strips are ordinarily retained in a horizontalposition by draw-springs l2, to rest on stop pins l3 projecting from theside of the cabinet.

It is evident from the above description that I have provided a simpleand compact apparatus for playing any kind of game where a token or diskis projected toward a speculative goal. The sides of the cabinet arealmost entirely of glass, in order to make the path of the projectileand the field of the goal clearly visible from all sides. The apparatusis of a nature for competitive skill between groups of players withscores to be kept as prescribed or as mutually arranged. Or, the devicemay be used for premium purposes where commodities are sold, by thepresentation of one or more tokens with each purchase and the award of asuitable premium where a certain value or score is attained by thepurchaser. Whatever type of game or contest is applied to the device, itis apparent that no difiiculty or mystery attends the playing, since allparts in the apparatus that deal with the playing are clearly exposed.Also, the sectional field is quickly cleared of the projectiles by thesimple expedient previously described.

While I have described the invention along specific lines, various minorchanges and refinements may be made therein from time to time withoutdeparting from its principle, and I consider all such changes andrefinements as coming within the scope and spirit of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A game device comprising a field having a miscellaneous array of goalvalues, and a board at an elevation from said field, the board having aplurality of elongated spaced passages over said field for tokensdropped toward chosen ones of said values, said passages comprisingvertical slots of a width for the slidable passage of the tokens and ofa length substantially greater than the major dimension of the token,and said board being of a thickness suflicient to prevent deviation ofthe token from a vertical plane while passing through the slots.

2. The structure of claim 1, said field being in a series of stripslaterally-grouped in close succession, an enclosure for the field,trunnions extended endwise of the strips at points medially thereof andjournaled in the enclosure to render the strips rockable, stops for thelateral portions of the strips at one side to seat the stripshorizontally, and yieldable means to maintain the strips in the seatedposition.

3. The structure of claim 1, said field being in a series of stripslaterally-grouped in close succession, an enclosure for the field,trunnions extended endwise of the strips at points medially thereof andjournaled in the enclosure to render the strips rockable, stops for thelateral portions of the strips at one side to seat the stripshorizontally, and draw-springs to maintain the strips in the seatedposition.

4. The structure of claim 1, said field being in a series of stripslaterally-grouped in close succession, an enclosure for the field,trunnions extended endwise of the strips at points medially thereof andjournaled in the enclosure to render the strips rockable, stops for thelateral portions of the strips at one side to seat the stripshorizontally, draw-springs to maintain the strips in the seatedposition, a rod linked to the strips at the other side, and a. handle atone end of the rod.

WILLARD E. ANDREWS.

